


The Lesser of Two Evils

by InfernalPume



Category: Star vs. The Forces Of Evil
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-22
Updated: 2018-11-22
Packaged: 2019-08-27 09:18:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,700
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16699729
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/InfernalPume/pseuds/InfernalPume
Summary: In these trying times, Admani finally makes his choice.





	The Lesser of Two Evils

It was far past midnight, meaning there was only one place to find her.

The gardens had grown in size and grandeur since Cyclone's rule, and not all of it from her own intervention. The newly reinstated guilds were keen to ensure their new queen never change her mind about returning their power and riches. Elegant flower pots from the artisans, exotic species from the botanists, copper statues from the smiths, and plump orange trees from the culinarians. And of course, the alchemist's tower stood tall in the castles own back yard to give the students access to all the rare and expertly kept plants. The growing intricacies of the gentry's gifts were actually becoming a problem in their own right. No doubt word of such luxuries would travel down to the slums of the city, themselves still enduring the same level of poverty as they always had.

But Cyclone wasn't thinking of that. No, she knelt before her roses as she always did when something particularly upsetting had her mind in its teeth. The wand, now permanently in the form of a spear with the head of a spade, lay useless beside her as she worked. It had been a full year since her ascension to the throne and still the Queen made no announcement to study magic. The people were restless- how could the Queen defend them against her wicked and vile sister if she herself refused to use the wand?

The ground in the gardens collapsed downward again, a door opening, and the Demon King Admani ascended the stairs. His breath caught in his throat when he saw Cyclone again. For all his power and threatening silhouette on her back he was nervous, wondering what to say. Wondering what he _could_ say.

Cyclone didn't look up from her roses.

In many ways she was exactly where she was when he first left. Mewni was the same, held together by her rule. No doubt the king of the underworld had heard of her sister's _exploits_ , and now came to see how Cyclone had ruined the kingdom. She grinned with her back still facing him, knowing he was there, knowing he'd be shocked to see mewni flourishing.

Even with his flimsy 'support' he had always thought she would fail. Thought she was too silly and stubborn to be a _true_ queen. Perhaps he had only originally stuck around in the hopes of advising her, it gave her a cruel satisfaction thinking of how he might feel seeing her _better off_ without him.

Admani let go of a shaky breath as he tried to collect his thoughts.

For a moment he almost turned on his heel and fled back down the stairs, but he forced himself to stay still. His tail swung slightly, dragging over the dirt, and eventually he just decided to be blunt.

"I'm sorry." He said simply, taking a step closer.

Part of him ached to see her face; part of him was scared to see how she had changed.

"I'm sorry I left and I'm sorry I stayed gone."

"Most people start with 'Hello'" Cyclone said haughtily.

Still she didn't turn, but spoke to him as easily as she sat beside him, "But I suppose you might have forgotten your manners down there. If the scouts are correct, you've been a busy little bee lately."

"I've never been good with greetings." He said, smiling nervously.

"I have been busy. New people every day, new stories to catalogue..." His voice trailed off as he remembered the trauma those new souls had gone through.

Cyclone snipped off a rotted bud with her sheers, pouting momentarily at its life being cut so short.

"Always a shame when i have to cut a new bud," she said casually, "But there's nothing for it. cant keep the pests out of the garden indefinitely."

That comment made him wince, his shoulders slumping.

"I get it. I fucked up. But you don't need to make petty comments like that. You can say it to my face."

Cyclone's shoulders twitched.

"I don't know if you'd like my face," she said sarcastically, "I've been very overworked. It has made a hag of me."

"There's no possible way I could ever look at you and see a hag." He said quietly, taking another step closer. 

 _Snip_ went the bud, it fell inaudibly to the floor where she delicately picked it up and placed it in her basket.

"If you didn't want my petty comments, why are you here?"

Admani watched her put the bud in the basket, wishing more than anything that things could return to how they had been.

"I'm here for a lot of reasons. A big one is missing you."

Cyclone paused, gloved hands gripping her basket as hesitated to stand. The moment passed.

Her silhouette rose in the garden, the twisted branches of her tiara casting a shadow in the moonlight. When she turned, the first thing Admani noticed was she no longer wore the vial around her neck. At first it was a relief, until his eyes traveled to a glistening gemstone in the centre of her crown that had not been there when it was first made.

Cyclone's face had not aged, it looked more elegant and regal and _alien_ than it ever had, as if petty things like age and exhaustion could no longer touch her. But her eyes were severe as she studied Admani, as if daring him to comment. The promise she made to him about tampering with her sister's soul had been broken, and she wore that broken promise for all to see.

"I don't know if I believe you," she said, "I suspect you've realised as I do that we didn't go far _enough._ "

A brief flare of rage burned Admani's chest, but he quickly forced it back down. As much as it upset him to see her lauding her victory over her sister like that, there were more important things at stake.

"That's another big reason I came back." He said. "I should have killed her, when she asked me in the dungeons. Or- something! I should have done _something_ -"

His voice cracked and broke.

"Cyclone, she killed a kid." He whispered. "This skinny little eleven year old showed up today in a crowd. "

Even now his voice shook as he remembered the girl, but he forced himself back to composure, looking down at the ground.

Cyclone studied him, her expression unreadable. Admani got the feeling something dangerous was sizing him up, but to what means he couldn't know.

Finally she blinked and closed the distance between them. For one moment she came near enough to touch him as if to embrace, but continued past him to another rose bush.

"I've received _similar_ ....messages." she said, "Sol's been sending her love in the only way she can without the half I took from her. We've sent out soldiers to crush her little rebellion, but our best knights defected to join them because of that pet captain of hers. He's a problem in his own right- He's made it clear he'd do anything to please her no matter how twisted or cruel."

"I've received plenty of souls from the both of them." He said, "I'd believe that."

Cyclone smirked, her voice honeyed and cruel, "My sister has a way with winning the _sympathies_ of powerful men, doesn't she?"

It was an old accusation, back from Admani's attempts to remain neutral. Knowing what he knew now it stung all the harder, Admani could do nothing but kneel in the dirt beside her.

There was a momentary pause before he spoke again. "It doesn't help that she knows the knights. She spoke with them and trained with them every day, so they know her too- it also doesn't help that many of them came from a progressive background."

Cyclone chuckled at this, a gentle eerie sound that dripped ice down even the demon king's spine.

"Oh _Admani,_ " she said, the first time she had spoken his name in a full year, "We're beyond 'progressives' and 'conservatives' now. It's not a matter of squabbling in the court. I _am_ the court. No, what my sister is doing is far greater than that. They are not progressives, they are rebels. This is no longer a debate."

_Snip._

"It's a civil war."

Admani watched the wilted bloom drop to the ground, though he suspected as much the words only sunk in now he heard them so bluntly. Once more he was placed between the love of his life and his childhood friend. At least this time, the decision he had to make was clear.

"If this is war, then... The Underworld gives their support." His voice was soft and solemn, " My soldiers adore you; they won't be swayed. They're worth twice the forces you've lost to the rebellion. It is more difficult for them to be killed."

Cyclone did not look away from her gardening, considering his words.

"The Underworld would be a powerful ally," she mused, "How kind of them to adore me. But I wonder about you."

Again she fixed him with that gaze and Admani knew that his strings were being pulled, but he was far too deep now to do much about it.

"You are only a third of a demon," Cyclone continued, "And you don't seem to share your people's approval of my methods. If you offer me the Underworld, you offer me yourself as well. Could you bear to support the Thorny Queen of Lies?"

Admani squared his shoulders, he had oped the rumours of Cyclone's official title had merely been his own people's excitement. Still, it took him no time at all to formulate a response.

"I may be only a third-demon, and I may not have approved of your previous tactics, but that has never changed my heart. I'll follow you anywhere. I can't promise we won't argue, or that I won't disapprove anymore. But I can promise this- I won't leave you."

The third eye on Admani's brow opened to fix her with the full power of his gaze. He wanted her to know he was serious. "I'll stay by your side for as long as you'll have me."

Cyclone seemed largely unaffected. She pulled a bud from her basket and pushed it into place, lovingly folding a blanket of dirt over the roots.

"You've told me that before," She said, "But then you were a stupid teenager who was just as desperate to fuck something as the other boys. But we're not teenagers anymore, the price for breaking that promise isn't a cold shoulder. I won't be happy if you leave again."

"I won't leave again." He said flatly, "I mean it, Cy. I want to be by your side again. Forever, if possible. I..."

Admani choked, embers sparking off his fingertips in an indicator he was blushing.

"I want to solve this problem with you. I want to help Mewni. I want to just sit here and shut up and watch you take care of your garden. I want to argue with you about little things and I want to be there so you don't have to be so damn strong on your own. I don't want you to _be_ alone."

Cyclone sat back on her heels, studying the new rose. It looked so sweet there in her garden, the first of a beautiful springtime of blooms. Finally she took a deep breath and straightened again, clearing her throat.

"I will allow it," she said, "But I don't know if this problem _has_ a solution. And if it does, you might not like what I have in mind."

"It doesn't _matter_ if I don't like the solution," said Admani, "After hearing everything Sol has done to the people, she has to be stopped somehow."

The memories of the dead filled his mind, drifting back to the afternoon and the people he had met. But that wasn't all he had to say. Shaking his head, Admani attempted a smile and offered a warm hand to the girl he had loved so fiercely before all this began. 

"I've missed you."

Those cold eyes studied his offered hand.

It had been such a long time since she had touched him.

"I can't," She said flatly,"Not now."

Cyclone gripped her spade to steady her hands. She knew she was being ridiculous. Admani and the Underworld's support were sorely needed, she should be willing to do _anything_ to make him stay. And whats more- she loved him didn't she? Surely she could force herself to...

But then she remembered the hours spent sobbing in the grass, her fingers clawing ineffectively at the space where the staircase had closed. The impossible fear and helplessness threatened to sting her heart even now.

It took her most frigid queenly mask to keep it at bay.

"I can't _because_ I love you," she said more to herself than anyone.

Admani's face fell, and this time he made no effort to hide his shock. This was Cyclone- _his_ Cyclone, she had always seen right through him.

Slowly, he withdrew his hands, setting them in his lap silently. It was understandable- he must have hurt her. Those last words between them had been so cold and angry. But what she said confused him.

"Cyclone, what do you mean, you _can't_?" His voice was quiet, almost desperate, "I won't touch you if you don't want it, but why push me away?"

For all his warmth and sincerity, Cyclone refused to give in. The words of the nobles and advisors that had dictated Cyclone's life swam back to the forefront of her mind. They needed Admani to stay and her being so cold to him wouldn't help matters but...

"I gave up everything," she said, "My future, my guild, my _sister,_ and everything i have ever believed in. I gave all of it to Mewni to do with as it wished, every asset at my disposal sacrificed for the good of the kingdom. And now Mewni wants my heart. She wants me to throw myself at a powerful ally and give him everything he wants to make him stay. She wants me to ignore my own feelings and smile and fuck as if everything is alright because she _needs_ you Admani."

Cyclone stood, gathering up her basket of gardening supplies.

"But I wont give her that, and I wont give her you," She snarled, "I won't put on a happy face to make you stay and allow myself to be humiliated again. And you don't want me to. You can look at me like a sad puppy and mope in your castle but I know you'd prefer my coldest bitterness over a political romance. Stay if it pleases you, but know I refuse to be your incentive."

For a few moments Cyclone stood there in a silence, watching Admani's face before she turned her back to him.

"You broke my heart" her voice was soft but determined, "And I loved you too much to forget."

With that she was gone, leaving him alone with only that newly planted flower for company.

Admani watched her slip away along with his last trickle of hope. 

Something inside of him broke again, but this time Admani knew it was no one's fault but his own. After everything she had put herself through he had been the final straw. He was the one who had ruined her.

...And yet she protected him still. Still she shouldered the blame for everything.

It took a long while for Admani to push himself to his feet. Once upright he stared at the ground, knowing he couldn't just demand a room without other people wanting to know what happened. But he wanted to stay true to his promise- until she threw him out by the horns he would not abandon her again.

So instead, he turned to the new bloom, knowing she would be back to check on it her first spare moment, and set down a small Bell and hammer beside it. A brief flare of fire lit the night, and when it cleared, the king was gone.


End file.
